I have seen the Lord!  What a testimony!  What wouldn’t we give to be able to say those words?  And yet, Mary was greeted with disbelief.  No one expected Jesus to rise from the dead.  In fact, one of the common elements of the resurrection stories across the gospels is that NO ONE expects the resurrection. Even though Jesus predicted his death … and resurrection … several times across his ministry, no one greets the news that God has raised Jesus from the grave and defeated death and the devil by saying, “Praise God!” No one shouts “Hallelujah” when they hear that their friend and Lord has been raised to life. And absolutely no one, upon hearing the news that death itself could not hold the Lord of Glory captive, says, “I knew it – just like he said!”

How often do we do the same?  We, like the disciples, actually deny the resurrection.  How so you ask?  We actually deny the resurrection every time we talk poorly about someone, refuse to serve our neighbor, refuse eye contact with someone who is different, fail to smile at a stranger…..every time we lose our patience, get frustrated when someone doesn’t get what we’re saying right off the bat, every time we act with less than love.

That’s right – we do that. 

However, like the disciples, we can change that.  In the Resurrection Story, no one expects the resurrection and no one, quite frankly, believes it at first. This is true, as I said, across the gospels, and it is certainly apparent in Luke. The women come to the tomb expecting to anoint Jesus’ dead body. That is, they have no expectation that he has been raise. In fact, only when they are reminded by the “two men in dazzling clothes,” do they recall Jesus’ promise.

Energized by this encounter, they run back to tell the rest of the disciples … who greet their tale with utter skepticism. In fact, Luke says that those who received the testimony of the women regarded their message as an “idle tale.” That’s actually a fairly generous translation of the Greek work leros. That word, you see, is the root of our word “delirious.” So in short, they thought what the women said was crazy, nuts, utter nonsense.

Resurrection, in other words, throws off the balance, upsets the apple cart, and generally turns our neat and orderly lives totally out of whack. Which is why I think that if you don’t find resurrection at least a little hard to believe, you probably aren’t taking it very seriously! And, truth be told, I suspect that’s where most of us – we’ve heard the story of resurrection so often it hardly makes us blink, let alone shake with wonder and surprise. Which is rather sad, when you think about it, because this promise, as difficult as it may be to believe initially, is huge, and when it sinks in and lays hold of you, absolutely everything looks a little different.

And isn’t seeing the world a little differently what being a Christian is all about?  The prayer often attributed to St. Francis sums it up nicely:

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

Grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled as to console;

To be understood, as to understand;

To be loved, as to love;

For it is in giving that we receive,

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

Like the disciples, like the women at the tomb, let us proclaim the resurrection by living our lives so that others see that we are, in reality, living the fact that the Lord is Risen!  The Lord is Risen indeed!

Amen

Sisters and brothers, today we commemorate the day when Our Savor, Lord Jesus was in the tomb. The saddest day for Christians along with the Holy Friday. On this day people literally put God in the tomb. Jesus Christ, Our Lord was sacrificed. In the Old Testament scarifying was regular religious practice. But there is one story where God showed that He does not need human sacrifices (like pagans do). What he needs is a perfect sacrifice and this is why His perfect son, was sacrificed. Let’s read this story, Gn 22, 1-18:

Sometime later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”. “Here I am,” he replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you. ”Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together. When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram^[a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring^[b] all nations on earth will be blessed,^[c] because you have obeyed me.”

What we learnt through this story is that God really doesn’t need our sacrifices. Remember that in the time when Abraham lived scarifying children was not a big scandal. Pagans were doing that as their rituals. But still God wants us to be obedient. It is true that we are saved by grace only but it doesn’t mean that now we should do nothing. Remember that we are salt to the World. We should obey God’s commandments especially the biggest 2 – to love God and to love people. Sometimes we may feel like Abraham that it is too demanding and too hard for us to do what God wants us to. Sometimes we may misunderstand God’s plans in our lives. But remember Is 55:8:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,
declares the Lord.

Let us always trust God and feel calm because everything that is happening in our lives, it is here with some reason. We should be glorifying God always because he is always good. Is 54:10:

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

Let’s see what Bible says about God’s commandments in Bar 32:4-4:

She is the book of the commandments of God, the law that endures forever. All who hold her fast will live, and those who forsake her will die. Turn, O Jacob, and take her; walk towards the shining of her light. Do not give your glory to another, or your advantages to an alien people. Happy are we, O Israel, for we know what is pleasing to God.

God promises life. And even though we know that on this day Jesus was in tomb, we also know that the next day he will be resurrected into eternal life. Abraham knew that being obedient brings life and he also believed that his son will live even though he was ready to sacrifice him. And as we all know, he really lived. Is there anyone of you that is not afraid of death? I guess we all are. But see what God says Ezekiel 18:28

Because they consider all the offenses they have committed and turn away from them, that person will surely live; they will not die.

Jesus died for us to show us that we will never die if we stick to God. He was buried on this day but the next day we will be celebrating his resurrection. Rom 6:5-11

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,^[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

This is how life functions to all of us. Sometimes we feel sad and lost. We have problems and stress but then God always brings the light, the resurrection as always there is the Sun after the rain. In the end of this sermon I would like to take a look at Jesus’ Resurrection and take a look at Mk 16:1-7

 When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.  And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”  When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.  But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him.  But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.”

Reading I: Is 52:13—53:12

Responsorial Psalm: 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-16, 17, 25

Reading II: Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9

Gospel: Jn 18:1—19:42

Liturgical colour: Red.

Today on The Passion of The Lord (Good Friday), we hear John’s Gospel account of Jesus’ victorious death upon the cross. Victorious death you may ask? Yes, the cross is where the path of faithfulness leads. Jesus is victorious in his faithfulness to the end. Especially in the Gospel of John, we are told that Jesus knew about the betrayal, the abandonment, the suffering, and his death that was to come in his last days. Jesus knew the danger that was to come, and he continued directly to it. To die on the cross was to triumph. It is the central reason Jesus had come down to earth. Jesus’ death is key in Jesus’ victory and in our Salvation.

John writes that. Jesus has foreknowledge of what is to come and is confident in continuing his mission, knowing that mission leads to his death.

Let’s consider a few examples of Jesus’ faithful confidence from the Gospel of John. After Jesus enters Jerusalem with palm branches waving on Palm Sunday, he declared, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” and speaks of his death as the falling of a grain of wheat which dies and bears much fruit. He continues to tell us of the hour of his death as the reason for which he has come. As he preaches this, the crowds hear affirmation in the thunder of God’s voice. In today’s Holy gospel, when the Roman soldiers  come to arrest Jesus in the garden, Jesus does not fight back or run away, rather he declares, “Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?” Jesus carries his cross to the site of the crucifixion.. Even John’s description of Jesus’ death emphasizes Jesus’ powerful choice to follow through with his mission: “When Jesus had received the wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (John 19:30). Jesus “gave up his spirit” in the active voice: Jesus is not a passive victim in this gospel. John paints a portrait of one who knows what is to come and desires to follow through with it. Jesus chooses to suffer and die for our Salvation.

As John tells of Jesus’ passion, he lifts up meanings for his community and also for us. Kingdom and power emerge as major themes.

The major exploration of kingdom and power begins as Jesus is brought before Pilate, the governor of Judea. Pilate has heard Jesus has been called the “king of the Jews” and questions him about his kingship. Jesus replies that his kingdom “is not from this world.” Jesus’ kingdom is greater than this world, it existed even before this world was ever brought into being. Jesus declares that Pilate’s power is dependent on a greater power. Pilate is both fearful and scornful.

When the crowd outside Pilate’s headquarters gets involved, the debate about kingship expands to a reflection of whose leadership we follow. The faithful response is to acknowledge God alone as the one to whom we owe allegiance. But, instead of declaring “God is our king,” the chief priests declare “we have no king but the emperor.” They reject the promised king that God has sent. Many Christians have done violence to modern Jews because of John’s portrayal of their rejection. But that was not his point. Rather, John was reflecting on the rejection his Christian community felt from the Jewish communities in which they worshipped and with whom they identified. For us today, the religious authorities’ rejection invites us to consider our rejection. When God acts other than we expected, when we don’t get what we think God should give us, when other people or things look more likely to give us life and security, do we also reject God? Do we also claim another as our king?

Pilate twists and mocks the idea of Jesus as being king. He has Jesus dressed in a royal purple robe and crowned with thorns. Jesus is shackled and is beaten then is condemned to death. As he hangs on the cross, Pilate’s royal declaration hangs above: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Pilate sees crucified Jesus as the furthest thing from an image of a king.

The cross is the throne which Our Lord Jesus ascends. Humility is the path which he chooses. But his kingship is sure. Jesus is one with the God the Father whose power is greater than all. Jesus sets aside power in his incarnation and death. Jesus’ resurrection on Easter morning testifies to the kingship and power that rightly belong to him. Pilate intends to mock the powerless king, but Jesus proves his victory in setting aside power. Jesus is ruler of a different kind of kingdom, in which the powerful one gives up themself for the sake of the weakest.

The cross is the moment of Jesus’ victory. But what is it Jesus is victorious over?

Jesus is victorious over sin, over death, and over the devil. Jesus breaks the powers of this world that hold us captive and separated from God. Jesus opens his kingdom to all people.

The powers of evil, and of death, were broken when they tried to claim Jesus. From the beginning of the gospel, John wants us to know that Jesus is the word of God, Jesus is from God, Jesus is God. Jesus Christ is present at the creation, bringing life into being, making light out of darkness, creating out of where there was nothing. So when this Jesus Christ enters into the darkness of death, and death tries to turn him into nothingness, death fails in his task. The one who creates life, light, and creation  cannot be conquered by death. Jesus makes light in the midst of the darkness of death and turns the nothingness of death into full life and eternal life. Jesus emerges from suffering death fully restored in newly created life.

So what does all this mean for you and for me?

The cross is the place of victory for Jesus, and also the place of Victory for each of us who truly love, believe and follow. Jesus draws all peoples to himself as he is raised up on the cross. We who have been united with Jesus through baptism are united with Jesus in his death. Jesus’ death breaks apart the kingdom of this earthly world that is opposed to God and firmly establishes the kingdom of God. We are brought into the kingdom of God.

This means that you have been freed from all those things which take life away. From eternal Death, fear, greed, the need to live up to other’s expectations or ways of valuing life- none of these things have a hold on us anymore. Jesus has won us away from these powers.

This night, we welcome the cross into our midst. We honour the cross as the symbol and place of Jesus’ victory, in doing so, we glorify our Lord Jesus who died there. As Jesus transforms the world with his kingdom, Jesus has transformed the cross from a place of shame to a place of victory.

Easter Sunday, the empty tomb, and the risen Jesus Christ are the final affirmations to Jesus’ victory on the cross. We know that the cross was a battle won because Jesus emerges from death. We celebrate Jesus’ faithfulness to the cross and God’s faithfulness in providing life. We rejoice in Jesus’ death, because we know that it is not the end of the story. On Easter morning, we will celebrate the bloom of the seed of victory planted this day.

Let us pray:

We remember today, the pain and suffering of the cross, and all that Jesus was willing to endure, so we could be receive salvation. He paid the price, such a great sacrifice, to be victorious over sin and death, and to win us the gift of eternal life.

Help us never to take for granted this huge gift of love on our behalf. Help us to be reminded of the cost of it all. Forgive us for being too busy, or distracted by other things, for not fully recognizing what you freely gave, what you have done for us.

Thank you Lord that by your wounds we are healed. Thank you that because of your huge sacrifice we can live free. Thank you that sin and death have been conquered, and that your Victorious Power is everlasting.

Thank you that we can say with great hope, “It is finished…” For we know what’s still to come. And death has lost its sting. We praise you for you are making all things new.

Amen.

“Fear no more, O daughter Zion; see, your king comes, seated  upon and ass’ s colt” ~John 12:15

It begins the Great or Holy Week, when in 8 days we celebrate the greatest secrets of Christianity: Jesus’ passion, death, burial and resurrection. The flowering plant is an introduction to that celebration. The contents of the Palm Sunday reveal the priest’s greeting, which begins the faithful’s meeting in the church, and reads: “Today we gather to begin the celebration of the Paschal Mystery, that is, the Passion and Resurrection of Christ.” That is why Jesus entered his city of Jerusalem, ready to accept the cross in order to redeem people from evil for the freedom of the sons and daughters of God.

“Dear brothers and sisters!

The solemn revelation of Jesus’ passion – brought to us today by the Gospel of Luke – has certainly evoked in all of us, who are people of faith, deep feelings and thoughts that lead us to a radical conversion of life.

And indeed, this is exactly what the path of prayer and penance, typical of the Lenten season, was supposed to lead us to.

Jesus solemnly enters Jerusalem and this represents an event of fundamental importance, above all for Jesus, and then for his disciples and for us today, the people of the New Covenant in His death and Resurrection.

Instead, by entering the Jerusalem Temple, after the solemn welcome we remembered a few moments ago, Jesus makes us understand that the Kingdom of God is the true inheritance of salvation, whose Messiah, the Savior, makes men its partakers again, and who have lost it. because of the misery of his own sin.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, with Jesus we come out of the illusion of the ancient temple to enter into the reality of the salvation of the kingdom of God, through the journey, which above all requires, to leave sin and all that is evil in God’s eyes.

Each of us carries a lot of good in us, but also a lot of bad. Here, if we want to enter the Kingdom of God, we must strip ourselves of this evil, which not only harms us personally, but causes harm to the entire Christian community. And indeed, just as we speak of the “communion of saints,” that is, of the intimate communion among all those who use the gift of Baptism and who are consistent in that gift in their lives, so we can speak of the intimate connection between all who do evil and live in disharmony. with the commitments they received on the day of their Baptism.

However, there is another event that follows the solemn entry of Jesus into Jerusalem: the expulsion of the merchants from the temple, which we find in the Gospel of Mark, in chapter 11, verses 15 to 18.

In particular, by expelling the merchants from the temple, Jesus wants us to understand that the outward forms of godliness and all that is associated with them — which is sometimes misunderstood as the power of salvation — are in reality, in themselves, of no value, and unable to mediate. our salvation. Instead, they have value when they are an expression of a heart that is fully attached to the Lord, a heart that knows how to do God’s will, a heart that is obedient to the Church, even when the Church, in God’s name, offers us truths contrary to our way of thinking. , for the ways of the Lord do not coincide with our selfish and materialistic ways.

The flowering plant opens the door to Holy Week, into the sea of suffering that Jesus went through to enter into his glory. There are two reasons for this: First, Jesus ’passion and death are the foundation on which his glorious resurrection is built and on which our salvation rests. Through Jesus ’suffering we are redeemed, our sins are destroyed and atoned for, and we are reconciled to God. The Church cannot forget the suffering and death by which the world was saved, so it is mentioned every year for gratitude. The second reason is a unique event in our history – the resurrection of Jesus. Namely, Jesus earned eternal life by his death. One cannot forget the death by which Life came? Jesus ‘death overcame our death, and Jesus’ resurrection guarantees eternal life to the baptized. The Church solemnly celebrates this truth as the truth of salvation and the source from which Christian daily life is nourished, carried by the hope that our death, like Jesus’, will be a passage to Life.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and Holy Ghost, Amen.

Based on Today’s Gospel: Jn 12:20-33

Jesus knew he was going to die a physical death, there was no doubt of this. He knew his death would be physically painful, long and drawn out. Along with all this he also knew that his physical death would allow all of us, yes everyone of us on this planet from that day until the end of time would be a candidate for eternal life with the Father and Son in Heaven for all of eternity. Just think about that for a minute please: Did he know that you and I would exist? Did he know how many souls were involved? The answer to these questions is explained in the lyrics of a beautiful song sung by Francesca Battistelli:

He Knows My Name:

Spent today in a conversation
In the mirror face to face with
Somebody less than perfect
I wouldn’t choose me first if
I was looking for a champion
In fact I’d understand if
You picked everyone before me
But that’s just not my story
True to who You are
You saw my heart
And made
Something out of nothing

I don’t need my name in lights
I’m famous in my Father’s eyes
Make no mistake
He knows my name
I’m not living for applause
I’m already so adored
It’s all His stage
He knows my name oh, oh,
He knows my name oh, oh

I’m not meant to just stay quiet
I’m meant to be a lion
I’ll roar beyond a song
With every moment that I’ve got
True to who You are
You saw my heart
And made
Something out of nothing

I don’t need my name in lights
I’m famous in my Father’s eyes
Make no mistake
He knows my name
I’m not living for applause
I’m already so adored
It’s all His stage
He knows my name oh, oh,
He knows my name oh, oh

He calls me chosen, free forgiven, wanted, child of the King
His forever, held in treasure
I am loved

I don’t need my name in lights
I’m famous in my Father’s eyes

I don’t need my name in lights
I’m famous in my Father’s eyes
Make no mistake
He knows my name
I’m not living for applause
I’m already so adored
It’s all His stage
He knows my name
He knows my name oh, oh
He knows my name

He knows my name, he knows your name, he knows the name of every one of his children, he has a plan for every one of his children, and there is nothing we can do to change this. As the song says we are famous in our Fathers eyes and we do not need any earthly fame or fortune. He saw our hearts and made something out of nothing. We are the chosen children of our Lord and Savior, Rescuer, and our Redeemer…

 We are living on his stage; we should be proclaiming His glory and salvation in our every action. We should be the Jesus that others see. We should be the Bible that others read. The song says that I won’t be a lion but I will roar his song, proclaim his love, shout it at the top of my lungs. Second Timothy tells us how to proclaim God’s love and how to preach his healing words:

2 Timothy 4:2-5

Proclaim the Word of God and stand upon it no matter what! Rise to the occasion and preach when it is convenient and when it is not. Preach in the full expression of the Holy Spirit —with wisdom and patience as you instruct and teach the people. For the time is coming when they will no longer listen and respond to the healing words of truth because they will become selfish and proud. They will seek out teachers with soothing words that line up with their desires, saying just what they want to hear. They will close their ears to the truth and believe nothing but fables and myths. So be alert to all these things and overcome every form of evil. Carry in your heart the passion of your calling as a church planter and evangelist, and fulfill your ministry calling.

When people quit listening, preach harder, louder, and with more passion. Do not give up, don’t get down and out, keep being the Jesus others see, preach and proclaim by words, actions, and deeds. Show the world that you love the Lord and are not ashamed to show it. By doing this, our Lord did not die in vain. Rise to every occasion and use every situation to proclaim our Lord’s love and compassion. You know you are loved – so show others that they are loved too. They may not have ever been shown or told that the Lord loves them. Just imagine how this could change the life of someone who is depressed and feeling sad and lonely. The song says it best:

He calls me chosen, free forgiven, wanted, child of the King
His forever, held in treasure
I am loved

You are loved, Jesus gave his live to prove this to us. It is our obligation to spread the love and let all the world know that Jesus’s love is real, available, and free for the taking. Romans 4:17 says: “ That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.

Heavenly Father: guide us, help us, teach us, and enable us to spread the glory of our salvation to those who are faltering and failing. Help us to find and love those who are lonely and need you. Help them to open their hearts so You can make something out of nothing. Help us to help others make something out of nothing as you did for me. You made me one of Your children and for that I am truly grateful. Amen

Super heroes are a thing.  When we were (much) younger, my brother was into body building and his end all be all was The Hulk.  In case you don’t know who The Hulk is, well, he’s green, he’s way feet tall, and he’s bulging with pounds and pounds of muscle. He’s the Incredible Hulk, hands down one of the coolest comic book heroes ever created. You don’t want to make him mad, because as he often warns, “The madder Hulk gets, the stronger Hulk gets!”  His anger and strength have entered the common lexicon of today in the phrase “Hulk out.”  According to The Urban Dictionary, to hulk out means “To become enraged; to lose one’s temper, clothing and power of coherent speech before embarking on a spree of violence and wanton destruction.

In today’s Gospel, we read of a time when Jesus sort of kinda hulked out:  Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money  changers seated there.  He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen,  and spilled the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.”  His disciples recalled the words of Scripture, Zeal for your house will consume me.  (John 2:13-17)

Well now.   This little bit of Scripture is problematic for a lot of folks because we have been taught that Jesus was this meek and mild-mannered little guy who preached love and patience and turning the other cheek and instructs us to be slow to anger.  I can assure you that Jesus did, in fact, teach us those things, but I can also assure you that Jesus was far, FAR from being “this meek mild mannered little guy,”  and we should not confuse “meek” with “weak.”

We are inundated from all sides by ads and commercials urging us to get more physically fit, to build muscle on top of muscle, to be perfect specimens of humanity.  I figure that Jesus pretty much fit that physical description.  Jesus as a hunk?, you ask?  Well… yeah.  Think about it for a minute.  Here was a man of great stamina who walked everywhere between the villages of the Holy Land in his ministry of salvation, and there is no record in the New Testament that he ever rode a horse, a camel, or a carriage, (though he did once enter Jerusalem on a donkey, but that’s a sermon for another time.)  He regularly traveled over hills and climbed mountains. We know that Jesus was either a carpenter or a stone mason, and there were, at that time, no power tools, so He was surely lean and muscular.  We have further evidence of Jesus’s physical fitness from reading of His passion.  The torture that he underwent killed many men.

Another reason that this particular bit of Scripture is problematic is that we imagine Jesus to be angry, and remember He was all about the “preaching love and patience and turning the other cheek and instructing us to be slow to anger.”  An angry Jesus???  Isn’t anger a sin???  People look at this episode and say, “Shame, shame. Jesus ignored His own teachings by getting angry and not forgiving those moneychangers. He really lost his cool, didn’t He?” 

At the same time other people view this episode as proof that it’s okay for us to get angry, and even take violent action if necessary, in doing God’s will.

So, who is right?  And the answer to that stunning question is, NEITHER. 

Anger is one of the Seven Deadly Sins, and St. Paul clearly teaches in his letter to the Galatians that “outbursts of fury” are the result of our sinful nature. So what’s the deal here? Did Jesus give in to the sinful nature when He got angry in the Temple, or what?

First, we have to understand that Jesus did not have a sinful nature. There have only been three sinless people in history: Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and my mother.  (OK, OK, my momma wasn’t perfect.  Give a guy a break, tho.)

There is a very fine line between “righteous anger” and “self-righteous anger.” Jesus’ anger was completely righteous. Those merchants were making a mockery of God’s holy temple. They were taking advantage of the average person’s sincere faith. Motivated by greed, they forced the believers to pay obscene sums in order to have their worship rituals labeled as “proper.”

You wonder what Jesus’ reaction might be if He appeared today and observed the behavior of Wall Street bankers and Washington politicians. Just sayin’.

Jesus is the only person in history completely controlled by the Spirit. He never gave in to the sinful human nature. The rest of us should avoid anger because we don’t have our sinful human nature under control like Jesus did.

The Gospel reading of Jesus clearing the Temple really should have a disclaimer. In big bold letters the Bible should say: “Jesus is a professional. Do not try this at home.” When people cite this episode as justification for getting angry, often they truly have a righteous goal in mind. But it doesn’t take long for that righteousness to slide into self-righteousness. The next thing you know, some looney toon is bursting into an abortion clinic with a rifle, sincerely convinced that God wants him to kill people to prevent people from being killed, or participating in insurrection at the nation’s capitol to impede the government, or blowing up gay bars, all in Jesus’s name. 

And all the while Satan is howling with glee. He just loves to see us get so worked up over a righteous cause that we become consumed with self-righteous anger. As C.S. Lewis wrote: “The devil would be quite content to see your chilblains cured if he was allowed, in return, to give you cancer.”  In a way, anger, especially self-righteous anger is cancer. It’s spiritual cancer. For those of us who have not yet reached Jesus’s level of spirituality (which means ALL of us), we are susceptible to this disease. Only Jesus can handle anger without contracting the spiritual cancer of self-righteousness.

We mere mortals do not yet share in Jesus’ spiritual perfection. As such, we are not capable of handling anger properly. Good intentions quickly become evil.   When our anger is out of control we can say and do things that hurt others.  Anger in the hands of we sinful people, to paraphrase P.J. O’Rourke, is like whiskey and car keys in the hands of teenage boys. It’s just too dangerous.

So what then, do we do when we are angry?  In our daily lives, for most of us those times where anger would be justified are likely pretty rare.   As with all things, follow the Spirit.  Paul, in Galatians 5:20-21, instructed “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” In 1 Corinthians 13, we are directed that love is patient and kind and does not dishonor others and is not easily angered. It can be reasoned that anger is contrary to charity, if it is spontaneously meant to dishonor our neighbor.  Proverbs 15:18 tells us a “hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel.”

The Bible seems to place anger as the last response to the circumstances of life.  We as Christians are to be peacemakers and find a solution before allowing an incident or conflict to escalate.    Breathe.  Pray.  Act in love.  And remember, we are, none of us, The Hulk.  Amen.

Dear brothers and sisters, with sincere and divine peace in our hearts, abstinent from the worldly allure and the devil’s attacks, we are in peace and joy with the shining sunlight and blossom the nature with the first flowers, announcing the longer and sunny days, fruits, and all that God is giving for our living in this earth. I want and I pray for all of you with God’s blessings to experience his mercy and grace.

But let me tell you something about that, we first need to be fully given to God to use us as clay, to make good vessels for His plans, and that is dividend with daily prayer, things of our strongholds and fallen nature, with the spiritual lent, less food for those that can bear, but for all of us weak or stronger, the spiritual abstinence of all evil and rotten devil allurements.

Penance, with reclusive time for reading the Scripture or any good spiritual book that you like, and compassion always as a good Samaritan, that’s the way, and that is impossible with our faithfulness of prayer, God is doing in us.

I am happy that today when I went to the Priory group of our Order, just to see in case what I should be inspired to share with the rest of us, I want to say that our official web site is refreshed and is dedicated one  chapter space for our never forgotten and dearly beloved deacon Dollie Wilkinskon OPI, and after long time spend in silence, God blessed us with new brother from Serbia that join the Postulancy of Order. Many are called, few are chosen. Don’t lack don’t lose interest of Gods knocking of your heart, Will be not given other time, catch the time, now is the time of salvation.

Please pray for increasing for holy priests and religious to eb given to us from our Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Reading I : Gn 9:8-15

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

Reading II: 1 Pt 3:18-22

Gospel: Mk 1:12-15

Liturgical colour: Violet.

My dearest brothers and sisters in Christ:

The season of Lent in the Church Liturgical year has begun. The purpose of Lent is for each and every one of us to prepare ourselves for the upcoming sacred days of Holy Thursday with the Lord’s Supper, Good Friday with the Lord’s Passion, and Holy Saturday with the Lord’s triumph, the Easter Vigil and with the resurrection of the Lord on Easter Sunday.

Now the word ‘Lent’ itself means ‘springtime!’ “but Springtime so early?” you well may ask. The answer is “Yes!” In ancient English, the word ‘lent’ is short for the meaning of ‘lengthening,’ as in ‘when winter’s darkness begins to give way to the ever-lengthening light of day.’

Lent, then, announces to us the beginning of the Church’s springtime season.

Whilst Lent is, indeed, a season of penitence — a season of calling us to turn our lives around and to bring our hearts back to God — it’ should not become a time for us to moan and groan or to feel shame for our past sins and for our present failings.

Rather, Lent is a time for us all to rise up and to prepare ourselves to greet the dawn of the new season of hope and of joy.

Lent is first and foremost the celebration of the presence of the Lord among us. For our Lord has come indeed, and he has come to stay: to live with us, to suffer with us, even to die to the past and rise with us to embrace a newness of life together. This saving grace of Jesus, and his redeeming presence, are with us again, and always, as is spoken in the Holy Scriptures, “His love is everlasting.”

What, then, are the works that we are called to do during this Lenten Season — we who are called to change the world?

How small and insignificant are we, and hardly able for the task. And yet, consider for a moment the size of the ant.

When I was a young girl, on a summer’s night, I loved to sneak out of bed, run outside and gaze at the ants busily going about their busy lives, ants, the smallest of the smallest of God’s creatures. I’d gaze and look upon how they darted about every-which-way, but filling my eyes with wonder and flooding an empty heart with new hope and dreams.

So too, must we learn from the ants, and let our good works shine forth and we ought to dart about showing the light of Christ and the warmth of his love in this often-dark world in which we now live, and listen to the words of Jesus our Lord, “Let your light shine before others, so that seeing the lovely things you do, they may give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

Since ancient times there have been only three basic works common to a proper Lent: prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

Prayer, for the good of our soul:

A return to a daily, intimate dialogue with God our Father, speaking and listening with the heart, experiencing His presence and love not only in the safety of our own solitude but in the work of building up a community of love with each other — remembering his words, “Wherever two or three of you are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of you.”

For this, during this sacred season, we must search out quiet places and, even more importantly, we must learn to sit still!

Fasting, for the good of the body:

Fasting to feel and share in the experience of the hunger of the breadless poor and to taste the tears of those who live on the edges of despair. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice sake” … those who work for the growth of peace and harmony, for the righting of wrongs, for the breaking down of barriers and for a new birth of compassion, understanding and love in this world…

Yes, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice sake, for they shall be satisfied.” Christ is one with them when he cries out from the cross: “I thirst.” Who, if not we, are listening? Who, if not we, are to respond? Take courage: For as it is written: “In the chaos of learning to love, we are redeemed.”

Almsgiving, for the good of our neighbour:

To take upon ourselves personal responsibility for helping a brother or sister in need is to reach out and touch God Himself. “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, this you do unto me.” (Matthew25:40)

Let us finish with this prayer from Dimitrii of Rostov:

Come, My Light

Come, my Light,

and illumine my darkness.

Come, my Life,

and revive me from death.

Come, my Physician,

and heal my wounds.

Come, Flame of divine love,

and burn up the thorns of my sins,

kindling my heart

with the flame of thy love.

Amen.